Everyone engaged in work has
a cause for which he labors. Some causes are noble and worthy
of commendation. Others are selfish and worthy
of censure. There are many who give themselves
to worthy causes, causes of philanthropy and things of that nature, gladly
sacrificing time, talents, and money to relieve the sufferings,
the poverty, and the misery of other people. Our doctors make
a noble sacrifice to the cause of medicine. There are many women
who are dedicated to the cause of freedom, seeking to maintain
the freedom and liberty we enjoy in this great country. Many are
the soldiers, many are the soldiers who have died for our safety.
Men live and die for a cause. Otherwise, They live and die
without purpose and without meaning. Men live and die for a cause. Otherwise they live and die without
purpose and without meaning. We too have a cause. Ours is the cause of our God. The cause of his honor and his
glory. the calls of our Lord Jesus Christ,
our Redeemer, the calls of the gospel. Preparing this message,
I kept thinking about that passage in 1 Samuel 17 where David went
out to meet Goliath. His brothers reprimanded him
because he's willing to go out and defend the name of God against
this great giant, thinking that David had just come down here
to make a show for himself. I don't think they really thought
that. If he'd been just making a show for himself, he wouldn't
have gone out against that giant. But they were jealous of David
because he dared to take up the cause. And his response to his
brothers was, is there not a cause? For God's church, the cause is
always the same. For God's elect, the cause is
always the same. It is the truth of God, the glory
of God, and the church of God. Sadly, very few in the pulpit
or the pew realize this. Preachers commonly make the defense
of some particular creed their cause, and they study and labor
concerning a particular creed, and reason, and right, and defend
their creed, and cause strife and division over their creed,
and their body of Christ is divided by what they do. People often
engage in things being led by pastors who obviously know no
better in various causes. They get turned aside to politics,
turned aside to social causes, social injustices, abortion,
or such things as that. These days, folks forever trying
to get people to go march around some abortion clinic, as they
did in days past with regard to temperance. Sadly, God's people
are often led mistakenly to pursue a cause that is not worth pursuing. Hear me, children of God, hear
me. If it were possible to shut down
every abortion clinic in the world, I'd be in favor of doing
it. If it were possible to shut down
every house of pornography in the world, I would be in favor
of doing it. If it were possible to shut down
every brothel in the world, I would be in favor of doing it. But
if you manage to do it, you haven't done one good thing for the souls
of men. If God, however, will use us
to proclaim the gospel to eternity bound men and women and call
sinners to hear the word of his grace in the gospel. then that
person will no longer be terribly bothered by the abortion clinics
or the brothels or the pornography. For the turning of the heart
to God turns the heart to God. The gospel of God's grace turns
men to the Redeemer and this is our cause. If you'll open
your Bibles to Ephesians chapter one, The apostle announces my
subject for me in the opening words of this chapter, Ephesians
chapter three, rather, excuse me. For this cause, for this
cause, for this cause, that's my subject. It appears from the
words that the apostle uses here that there was one purpose, one
cause, which inspired the zeal of this old man. What was that
cause? He shows us throughout his epistles
that the church of Jesus Christ has but one cause. The child
of God in this world really has but one cause. God's servants
in this world really have but one cause. And every local gospel
church has but one cause. Our cause is the gospel of our
Redeemer. I've said this many times before,
and I'll say it again many times. The church of Jesus Christ is
in this place for one reason. It is our business to spread
the gospel. The Church of God is not a community
center. It is not a social club. It is
not a country club that you can get into without any thieves.
It is not a family center. The Church of God is a sounding
board for the gospel. The only purpose for our existence
is to sound out the gospel in this generation. If we fulfill
this responsibility to this community and to our generation, we will
do so by the preaching of the gospel of God's free grace in
Jesus Christ. Now, this third chapter is easily
divided into two sections. In verses 1 through 12, we'll
be looking at this tonight and for the next several weeks, the
Lord willing, the apostle shows us what our existence, what the
reason for our existence is. The reason for our existence
is to make known in our generation the mystery of Christ. The reason for our existence
is to make known in our generation the mystery of Christ. And then
in verses 13 through the end of the chapter, the apostle makes
a fervent prayer for God's people, earnestly praying that we might
know our Redeemer and faithfully serve this cause. Now, let me
show you three things in verses one through 12. First, we recognize
that for Christ's sake, for this cause, For the cause of the gospel,
we must and do endure relentless hardness and reproach from men. Look at verses one and two. For
this cause, I call the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles. He's in prison now. He said,
I'm the prisoner, not of Caesar, but of Jesus Christ. The prisoner,
not of men, but of Jesus Christ. The prisoner, not because it's
the will of men that I'd be prisoner, but because it's the will of
my Redeemer that I'd be prisoner. The prisoner of Jesus Christ.
I'm a prisoner of Jesus Christ for you. For you. I'm here in this place of hardship
because I am determined to proclaim the gospel to you, the prisoner
of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles. If you have heard of the dispensation
of the grace of God, the stewardship, the responsibility of the grace
of God, which is given me to you. God gave me this blessed
stewardship, this dispensation, this commission, the preaching
of the gospel, and he gave it to me for your sakes, that I
may work this thing that God's put in my hands and make known
this thing God has revealed to me to you for your sakes, for
your benefit. Paul here gives an account of
himself as the apostle of Christ. And he shows us some of the trials
and difficulties he endured for the gospel sake. It's obvious
that Paul's language more easily is adapted to the preacher than
to anyone else. But remember, Paul wrote this
epistle by inspiration of God the Holy Spirit to you who are
his. To you, who are his, Brother
Larry mentioned in his prayer, the ministry you have given us. That's so very, very, very important. We have a ministry. a service,
a dispensation of the grace of God given to our hands together
with which we are to serve our generation and serve our God. It's the business of making known
the gospel. This ministry given to us, the
church of the living God. If we are made to suffer for
the gospel, for the cause of Christ, we suffer for a noble
reason. It is this fact that we must
recognize. I recognize none of us have ever
really had to suffer very much. And usually that which we suffer
from others, we bring on ourselves. Usually that's the case. I've
suffered a great deal more from other people for the things I've
done than I have because of the gospel I preach. That I sadly
acknowledge. But there is one cause for which
all God's people must be willing to suffer. And Paul was a prisoner
at Rome for this cause. He suffered greatly, having preached
the doctrine of the gospel, which is set before us plainly in the
first two chapters of this epistle. He preached free salvation in
Christ Jesus, our omnipotent effectual savior everywhere he
went. He dared to preach the gospel
to the Gentiles. Here's a man who's a Jew, probably
the best trained man in all the days that he walked on this earth.
Brother Todd and I, by now, were talking a week or so ago, and
he said, he said, I'm convinced Paul's the most brilliant man
who ever lived. I have no argument. I have no argument. But his brilliance
and his training didn't advantage him one thing in preaching the
gospel. He was trained at the feet of
Gamaliel. He was trained at the feet of
Gamaliel as a Jew. Can you imagine how the Gentiles
respected that? Kind of like you would respect
a fellow who had been trained a long, long time ago. I don't
want to offend anybody. In the backwoods in some mountain
town where they just had a one-room school for everybody who went
from first grade all the way through whatever school that
they got through, taught all by one teacher at the same time.
Oh, he's so brilliant. No, the Gentiles despised Jewish
training. They despised Jewish learning.
And the Jews despised the Gentiles and wouldn't think of sending
anyone from them to preach to the Gentiles. But Paul dared
to preach to the Gentiles. And because he preached the gospel
to the Gentiles, not just because he preached the gospel, but because
he preached the gospel to the Gentiles, the Jews despised him. This man boldly declared that
believers are free from the law, that the Sabbath days and the
ceremonies of the law are altogether meaningless, breaking all Jewish
tradition. This man asserted that Jew and
Gentile are one in Christ. For the Jews, that was like saying
you're the same as a dog. You're the same as the filthiest
thing on this earth. Now watch this. Paul tells us
he suffered for you Gentiles. Here's the grace of God, a Jew
going to prison for the Gentiles because of his love for some
Gentiles. If you read Acts 21, we won't
try to do so now. I've got it here and marked and
I've looked at it, but it'll just take too long. Paul left
Ephesus and at last he came to Jerusalem. And when he came to
Jerusalem, he met with James and the elders of the church.
He came bringing news about God's work among the Gentiles. James
said, boy, that's good. That's good. We're so happy to
hear God's working among the Gentiles. Paul, some of the brethren
here have heard that you destroy Moses and that you preach against
the temple of God and the law of God. And we've got four brethren
here who've taken a vow. Now, they would probably listen
to you if you'd take the same vow with them. You know what
Paul did? He did the very same thing Peter
did at Antioch. The very same thing. Peter got
up and walked away from those Gentiles and came up and sat
down. He should be looked at as eating
some unclean thing. And Paul shaved off his head
and joined those Jews compromising with those men there at Jerusalem. Maybe this will help. Maybe I
ought not to have been so strict, so severe. It didn't help a thing. It didn't help him with the Jews,
and it sure didn't help him with the Gentiles. In fact, the Jews
saw Paul in the temple with his head shaved and said, that don't
mean anything. This man preaches against Moses
and against this temple and teaches men to break God's law. And they
had him arrested. They had him arrested. They would
have killed him on the spot had not a Roman captain intervened
on his behalf. The Apostle Paul, how very sad that is, and yet
how needful for us Because you see, we shouldn't expect anything
better from flesh than flesh. That is nothing better from sin
than sin. Paul's compromise here accomplished
nothing. It never does. It never does.
The Apostle Paul later deals so plainly with these things,
he writes to us his epistles just denouncing this legality
altogether. The gospel was committed to Paul
for the sake of God's elect among the Gentiles, we're told in verse
two. If ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of
God which is given me to you, it was particularly committed
to him for the sake of God's elect at Ephesus, for the church
at Ephesus. God doesn't put any man into
the work of the gospel for his own benefit. or something that's
something to be used for his benefit. No one, no one. And God's servants, faithful
men, do not use their place in the kingdom of God for their
benefit, neither in a physical or financial way, nor for their
benefit in any carnal concerns. And those men who are called
and gifted and sent of God into this blessed work of the gospel
are called, gifted, and sent to a specific people in a specific
sphere of service. Let me be very clear. I don't
suggest that a pastor ought never move from one place to another.
I don't suggest that. If that's what God has for me,
he's convinced of it. But God, along the way, is preparing
a man for a ministry, preparing him for work. I've been reading
William Romaine's biography, or one of his biographies. And
Romaine preached for many, many, many years. until he was brought
to Blackfriars in London when he was 54 years old. That's where it started. That's
where it started. And was ordained in the work
of the ministry in London. And there he preached the gospel
and God gave him a ministry literally reaching around the world in
the 1700s. God ordains and sends forth his
servants, preparing and equipping them as he will for a specific
ministry with a specific people in a specific sphere so that
he prepares them their lifelong for the work he has for them
to do. Some he prepares for work in one area, some for work in
another. But wherever a man is called,
gifted, and sent of God, he's prepared and gifted for that
work. Like Paul, we may be called to
suffer for Christ, and you may be called to suffer for Christ
and the gospel. But the things we may be called
to suffer are really nothing, are light affliction. Outlight
affliction, which is but for a moment. Outlight affliction. Unto you it is given in the behalf
of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for
his sake. All that will live godly in Christ
Jesus must suffer persecution. There's no escaping that. That
means that like the apostle was imprisoned at Rome, the prisoner
of Christ, you and I, by the purpose of our God, are given
to suffer for the cause of our Redeemer. All of God's people
do. There are no exceptions. We suffer
the enmity of this world. hated of all being for his name's
sake. We may suffer the loss of reputation. We may suffer the loss of worldly
goods. But the important thing for us
is that we'd be willing to suffer for our Redeemer. Turn back to
Acts chapter 21, or chapter 24, a moment, if you will. If I'm willing to suffer for
Christ, I'm willing to live for Him. If I'm willing to suffer
for Him, I'm willing to give for the support of His cause.
If I'm willing to suffer for my Savior, I'm willing to work
for His cause. And it doesn't matter where.
It doesn't matter where. Years ago, Brother Mahan wrote
a brief article in his bulletin And I haven't forgotten it. He
said if two angels were sent from heaven by God to this world
to serve him, and one had the responsibility given to him to
sweep the streets of the city, and the other the responsibility
to rule the world for God, it wouldn't matter to either of
them which did which. Oh, God make me such a servant. If God would be pleased, Merle
Hart, to use you in any way for His glory, for His people, for
His gospel, oh, what an honor. If God would be pleased in any
way to use me for His glory, for His people, for His gospel,
what an honor. If I'm willing to suffer for
Him, I'm willing to work for Him. If I'm willing to suffer
for the cause of the gospel, I'm willing to go anywhere to
preach the gospel. I mean anywhere, anywhere. I'm often asked to go places
to preach by folks who don't know me. And they say, well,
there's just half a dozen of us here and make apology. What would it take for you to
come? I'm happy to go wherever God sends me to preach to a half
a dozen folks who want to hear the gospel or need to hear it.
Happy to go. I had a preacher in my office,
a man who thought himself a preacher, looking to pastor, wanted pastor
real bad. And I said to him, well, there's
a group of folks in Wasilla, Alaska, who desperately need
a pastor. Would you be willing to go? Well,
I couldn't go there. Well, you can't go anywhere then.
You can't go anywhere there. Oh, but that's such a bad place
to live. What? Where I can serve God? Where I'll be used of God to
preach the gospel? Doesn't matter where it is. I've often said I could live
in the heart of New York City and live in one of those high
rise apartments on those crowded streets, bustling with folks
all the time and be perfectly happy and content if that's where
God put me to preach the gospel. If I'm willing to serve his cause,
I'm willing to serve him anywhere where he will use me. What an
example Paul gives us here in Acts 20. Look at verse 22. He's
leaving Ephesus. And he says, Behold, I go bound
in the Spirit unto Jerusalem, not knowing the things that shall
befall me there. The only thing I know. The only
thing I do know for sure. I don't know what's going to
happen when I get there, except this I do know. Look at verse 23.
Save that the Holy Ghost witnesseth in every city, saying that bonds
and afflictions abide me. Chapter 24, they begged him not
to go. They begged him not to go. He
says, I'm sorry, chapter 20, verse 24. But none of these things
moved me. Neither count I my life dear
unto myself. Neither count I my life dear
unto myself. Neither count I my life dear
unto myself. God will never use a man who
does. God will never use a man who
does. God will never use a man who does. He may appear to be
used, and he may think he's being used. God will never use a man
who counts his life dear to himself. How come? So that I might finish
my course with joy, and the ministry which I have received of the
Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God. And look
at chapter 21, verse 13. This man Agabus came and he spoke
by the Holy Ghost. No question about that. He says,
Paul, this is what's going to happen to you. They're going
to bind you. Just I'm taking this girl and binding myself.
Then Paul answered, what mean ye to weep and to break mine
heart? These are his friends, just exactly
as you. Might beg me not to go somewhere
where you knew it would cause me injury As you might beg me
not to go somewhere because I might Encounter some disease or some
sickness paul said what mean you to weep and break my heart
I'm ready not only to be bound But also to die at jerusalem
for the name of the lord jesus God's people god's people must
suffer hardness and reproach in this world for the cause of
Christ. And they do, and they do. Second,
for this cause, for the cause of the gospel, we have been enlightened
and continually are enlightened by divine revelation. Here in
verses three through seven, Paul informs us that he had been taught
the gospel by the revelation of God. God had appointed him
to the ministry and God gifted him and qualified him for the
work. Look at verse three. The gospel is here spoken of
as a mystery, a mystery that's revealed. A mystery is something
that you can't unravel. A mystery is something you can't
figure out. A mystery is something that can
only be known by revelation. Look at verse three. How that
by revelation he made known unto me the mystery. What mystery? As I wrote a four in a few words,
he's referring back to chapters one and two, whereby When you
read, you may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ, which
in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is
now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the spirit, that
the Gentiles should be fellow heirs and of the same body and
partakers of his promise in the gospel are in Christ by the gospel. The mystery of the gospel is
spoken of in many ways in scriptures. It's called the mystery of Christ,
the mystery of godliness, the mystery of faith. The doctrine
of the gospel is called the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven. The
doctrine of the gospel is a mystery that can only be received by
faith and can only be received by faith when it's revealed in
you. You can't believe God until God
reveals himself in you. The Trinity is a mystery revealed. Christ's person, his glorious
person, as God made our mediator, is a mystery revealed. Our union
with him is a mystery revealed. The resurrection of the dead
is a mystery revealed. Oh, these things are things with
which Satan would tempt us Do you ever find yourself not believing things written
in this book? Standing in doubt of things written
in this book? How often Satan raises up reasons not to believe
something written in his book, cause our thoughts and minds
to blaspheme our God. The blessed gospel of God's grace
is a mystery revealed. Paul speaks of it here as a mystery
revealed in a few words. Predestination, election, redemption,
regeneration, salvation by grace alone, in Christ alone, through
faith alone. And this mystery we receive by
faith. Believing the son of God, we
receive that which God reveals to us through his word, through
the instrumentality of gospel preaching, but by the power and
might of his spirit. Paul said he was converted, Galatians
1.15, when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother's
womb, to reveal his son in me. The knowledge of Christ comes
by revelation, not by decision, not by logic, not by reason. It comes by revelation. I've
already said something about Paul's training and Paul's brilliance. He tells us in 1 Corinthians
that we knew Christ after the flesh, or 2 Corinthians chapter
5. He said we knew Christ after the flesh. We knew him after
the flesh. Being a well-trained student of Gamaliel, I have no
question at all that he was trained well in those things that the
disciples of Christ proclaimed to be so. He knew every argument
inside and out, kind of like Folks today, they write books
about cults. I've got a dozen of them on my
bookshelf back here about cults. And you know, when I was young
and foolish, I used to be interested in it. I used to study about
Mormonism and Jehovah Witnesses and Campbellites and this cult
and that cult, what makes this fellow say that, what makes this
fellow say that. And you get well acquainted with all their
doctrines and all their arguments. But our Lord warned the children
of Israel when they went into the land of Canaan, don't inquire
after their way. If you do, you'll follow it.
If you do, you'll follow it. Don't even ask about the way
they worship. Don't even ask about why they do things they
do. Don't waste your time with it. Hear what God says. But Paul
was well trained in those things mentally, mentally, but he couldn't
know God. He couldn't know God in Christ. He couldn't know God in spirit
and in truth, except by divine revelation. By God shining the
light of the gospel of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. This mystery. of the believers'
union with Christ and of the union of all God's elect as one
in Christ, heirs of God and joint heirs, possessors of the promises
of God, all God's people, all God's people, possessors of the
promises of God, all of them, possessors of all the promises
in Jesus Christ. What a mystery, what a mystery.
It was hidden. in ages past, hidden in types
and pictures and ceremonies of the Old Testament scriptures.
All the book of God talking about him. Now, when you read the scriptures
and you study the scriptures, Shelby and I were talking about
this just last night or the night before, you come across the name
Pharaoh. Oh, how does Pharaoh picture
Christ? He doesn't necessarily picture him. Pharaoh's not a
picture of Christ. Saul, he's head and shoulders
above everybody. He doesn't picture Christ. No,
he's not a picture of Christ. But the whole revelation. concerning the reason God raised
them up, and the way God used them, and how God saved his people
in spite of that picture's Christ. That picture's Christ. You don't
have to have the minutiae of the thing, but you get the message
of the thing. The whole book speaks of him. But it didn't reveal him clearly
in those days under types and shadows like he's revealed today
by the gospel. Paul speaks of this plainly in
Hebrews chapter one. He said, God, who at sundry times
and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by
the prophets, hath in these last days spoken to us by his Son. In days gone by, and again today, Many have the idea that God still
speaks by dreams and reveals his will and his purpose to men
by dreams and visions like he did to Daniel, as he did to Hezekiah,
as he did to Isaiah. In time past, God spoke in diverse
manners under our fathers by the prophets. Today, God speaks
by this book. by this book, only by this book,
by the preaching of the word, by the power of his spirit. When
God speaks to you, he speaks to you by his word. Jesus Christ, our Redeemer, revealed
in this book. The mystery Paul speaks of here
is the mystery of the kingdom of heaven, our blessed union
with Christ the Lord. And he very pointedly reminds
us that God alone, verse seven, is the source and authority of
any true ministry. whether we're talking about me
as an individual, whether Todd Niebuhr as an individual, or
us as a congregation, or that congregation in Lexington as
a congregation, or whether he's talking about all of God's people
as one in this world. We have authority only by God. Look at verse seven. Whereof
I was made a minister, according to the gift of the grace of God,
which is given me by the effectual working of his power. Paul said,
I was made a minister. I didn't volunteer for the work.
I wasn't sitting around planning on the work. I didn't decide
on the work. God made me a minister. That means God called me. God
gifted me, God qualified me, and God put me in the work, and
I didn't have anything to do with it. God put me in the work,
I didn't have anything to do with it. First time I was asked
to preach, I was scared to death. I was absolutely scared to death,
and it was obvious. It was obvious. It's not as obvious
now. I'm more scared now than I was
then, but it was obvious in those days. Obvious. But I wouldn't
have dreamed I wouldn't have dreamed of volunteering to go
preach. I wouldn't have dreamed of it.
I wouldn't have dreamed of it. I was made a minister. When God makes a man a preacher,
he prepares him for the work. He gifts him for the work. He
qualifies him for the work, and he puts him in the work. I know
Brother Cody back yonder has some real interest in this. You
hear what your pastor just told you. Don't make a door for yourself. Don't do it. Don't make a way
for yourself. A man's gift will make a way
for it. Don't do it. Don't do it. Wait, and God will
do the work if he has this work for you to do. You can be sure
of this, if God calls a man to this work, He graciously gifts
him for the work according to the gift of the grace of God
given unto me by the effectual working of his power. So that the man who's called
and gifted of God for this work, by God's effectual power, by
the teaching of God, By the teaching of God and by the gift of God,
he has understanding of the book of God. He understands what this
book's all about. He understands this book. If I don't understand this book,
I've got no business standing up here trying to tell you about
it. He understands this book. Now there are many things in
this book I don't understand. There are many things in this
book I don't understand. And when I come across passages
I don't understand, I'm not gonna stand up here and pretend that
I do. I just slide right on by it. Just slide right on by it.
And if God gives me some light, I'll come back to it another
day. But I'm not gonna, about to pretend to understand something
I don't understand. But the whole book, I know what this book's
about. I don't know what it's about. Not only that, the man
who is gifted of God for the work is able by God's gift, not
by his learning, not by his brilliance, not by his study, not by his
academics, by God's gift, he is able to open the scriptures
to your understanding. So when he gets done, well, there
it is. Why did I say that? Why did I
say that? I remember years ago, Brother
Mahan and I were preaching in Dingus, West Virginia. And Brother
Henry gave an exposition of Isaiah 50. And he got done preaching. And after services, one of his
men, Brother Ronnie Lewis, came up to him. And he said, Henry,
I've been reading this book almost as long as you have. How come
I didn't understand that? It's just as clear as it can
be. Right there it is. Henry says, well, you paid me
the big bucks. And he was speaking in jazz. He was saying this,
God's gifted me to do this. That's what I'm here for. That's
what I'm here for. So that if a man preaches, man
preaches, when I get done preaching tonight, Jonathan, if you can't
look at this portion of scripture and say, well, everything he
says right there, then I haven't expounded the book to you. I
haven't opened the word of God to you. I haven't shown you what
the scriptures teach. The work of the gospel is a gift
of God, and it's made effectual only by God's power. I've been trying to do this for
almost 49 years, preaching the gospel of God's grace. And neither I'm lying to you,
I'm telling you the truth, there's nothing in between. I have never, prior to this hour,
been more thoroughly convinced of my utter insufficiency for
this work than I am right now. Completely insufficient. I don't
have the ability to do the things I've been talking to you about.
I don't have the ability. For one thing, I'm not a brilliant
fellow. I don't pretend to be. I'm not an academic. I don't pretend
to be. I don't have natural talents that would incline me to these
things. I don't pretend to have them. But blessed be God, while I cry,
who is sufficient for these things? My response is our sufficiency
is of God. He supplies everything needed. Here's one last thing, and I'll
be done. For this cause, for the cause
of the gospel, we are trusted with a great, great responsibility. Verse eight. Unto me, who am
less than the least of all saints, is this grace given. Oh, what
a gift. What a gift. that I should preach
among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ. Oh, what a
gift God's put in our hands. Oh, what a gift God has put in
our hands. He's trusted to us dirty, vile,
sinful wretches that we are. He's trusted to you and me. the unsearchable riches of Jesus
Christ revealed in the gospel. And he said, all right, Grace
Madness Church, Danville, Kentucky, go show the world. Go show the world. The unsearchable
riches of Jesus Christ, our Redeemer. The unsearchable riches of grace
and glory in Him who is our Savior. And to make all men see. Cause
everybody to see this. What is the fellowship of the
mystery, which from the beginning of the world has been hid in
God who created all things by Jesus Christ to the intent that
now under principalities and powers and heavenly places might
be known by the church, the manifold wisdom of God. I got done preaching
here a few weeks ago. Brother Merle met me after services,
and before anybody else got to the door, he said, I could just
see the angels all around this place looking in, seeing what's
going on, trying to hear what God's taught us in the experience
of His grace about redemption. Read on. According to the eternal
purpose which He purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord, in whom,
that is, in Christ, we have boldness. and access with confidence. With confidence. How can I dare
approach God with confidence? By faith of by His faith as my
Redeemer, by whom all things were accomplished on my behalf,
by the faith He has given me, by the faith He works in me,
we have confidence and boldness to approach the living God. It
is our responsibility, yours and mine, to take the gospel God's given
us, into the four corners of this world and proclaim to this
generation the unsearchable riches of Christ. God, make me faithful
to that service for your soul's sake, for Christ's sake, as your
pastor. God, make us faithful to that
service for the glory of our God for the glory of our Redeemer,
for the furtherance of His gospel, for the building of His kingdom.
Amen. We'll have a hymn for the legend.